There was quite a lot of speculation about Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo for much of last season and this summer. Talk about the Portuguese superstar being unhappy at the club, unhappy with the lack of support from the fans, unhappy with the signing of another superstar Gareth Bale to challenge his role and much more.

Well all of those problems seem to have been put to bed. He gets on very well with Bale and they complement each other on the pitch, the fans absolutely adore him and the new management team of Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane have fostered a much better atmosphere in the dressing room after all the tension of the Mourinho years. ......Read more...

Any hopes that other teams may have had of prising Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid went up in smoke today. The Portuguese star has signed a new five year contract with the Spanish giants, ending all the rumour and speculation that has surrounded him for the last year.

Ever since he said, near the beginning of last season, that he was sad, there have been stories in the media linking him with Manchester United, City, Chelsea, PSG and others, but he insisted today that Madrid was his home and made a point of saying that he is happy. I wonder if Mr. Mourinho could have had anything to do with Ronaldo’s sadness, because he does seem to have a knack of pissing players off. ......Read more...

In just over five day’s time, the summer transfer window will close and Real Madrid will not be able to buy or sell any more players until the winter window opens in January. The main source of media speculation around the club is, of course, the ongoing Gareth Bale situation, but there are three players who could be on the brink of leaving the club, and they do not have long to decide what to do. ......Read more...

There is widespread belief in Spain and England that Real Madrid have all but completed the signing of Gareth Bale from Tottenham, but there are rumours that there may be another club interested and Real Madrid could still lose out on the man they have been chasing hard all summer.

At the Santiago Bernabeu, the platform that is used to show off new signings to the Real Madrid fans has already been erected, and many media sources in Spain and England are reporting that the unveiling of the Welsh international is due to take place tomorrow. Bale is supposedly injured and just happens to be `recovering` on holiday in Spain’s Costa Del Sol, but that is rather hard to believe. ......Read more...

There are reports in the English media that three Premier League clubs are hoping to sign the Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas. Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are all thinking about trying to sign the 32-year old Spanish international. Normally this would be of absolutely no concern to Madrid fans, because Casillas is the club captain and has never shown any wish to play for any other club. ......Read more...

It seems like Real Madrid will have to wait until the end of the transfer window in order to complete the world record signing of Gareth Bale. Most football insiders assume that the deal will be done, though. Tottenham are using the time to strengthen their squad, knowing that they will be losing their star players.

At the same time, Real Madrid are trying to raise some money, and they are going to do so by selling one or two of the players who are likely to fins themselves on the fringes of the team this season. With Bale coming and Isco, Illarramendi, Casemiro and Carvajal already signed, some players know that their opportunities will be limited. ......Read more...

There have been firm reports that Real Madrid have almost completed the transfer of the Wales international Gareth Bale. Tottenham Hotspur are still trying to tell people that Bale is a big part of their plans for the future, but the fact that he was not even in the squad for their pre-season friendly against Sunderland today speaks louder than any words from Daniel Levy or Andres Villas-Boas.

The 24-year old has been in full training with the rest of his team mates until the news broke about the Real Madrid deal yesterday, and there has been no previous talk about an injury. So the report in Marca that AVB has claimed that Bale picked up a knock last week seems a little strange, if not downright incredulous. ......Read more...

There has been lots of speculation in the media about Real Madrid and whether the club would be able to hold on to Cristiano Ronaldo this summer. With just two years left on his current contract, and no sign of the Portuguese international agreeing to sign an extension, the transfer rumours have been coming thick and fast.

The new Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has made his position perfectly clear to Ronaldo, apparently, after telling the 28-year old to buckle down and focus on his football in Spain, because he is not going to countenance any transfer, whether to Manchester United or anywhere else. ......Read more...

I think that Real Madrid and Florentino Perez will soon start to dread the very word Monaco, because the newly promoted French Ligue 1 side seem determined to wreck all of Madrid’s transfer business this summer. They have already poached the club’s main transfer target and now they want our best player.

The football world was stunned when it was announced last month that the Atletico Madrid and Colombia international striker Radamel Falcao had agreed to snub Europe’s biggest clubs, including Real, and join the relatively small and recently struggling outfit Monaco. They have a new Russian owner, though, who just happens to be a multi billionaire, while their tax laws mean that the players get to keep almost all of their wages. ......Read more...

Cristiano Ronaldo should be used to being the centre of attention, since moving to Real Madrid the Portuguese striker has never been out of the world’s spotlight. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to mind too much, so that is one less reason for him to leave the club.

This summer could be a turning point in his career, however. Florentino Perez has been re-elected and will be desperate to persuade the 28-year old goal machine to sign an extension to his current contract, which has two years left to run. He has declined to accept so far this year, but that could easily be because of the Mourinho effect. It is clear from the departing manager’s words that the two did not see eye-to-eye. ......Read more...